§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if she will list her Department's staff members working(a) full-time and (b) part-time for the Friends of Scotland Unit, broken down by location of work. [77202]
(2) how many staff have been seconded from the private sector to work for the Friends of Scotland initiative since its inception in 2001; and from which organisations these individuals have been seconded. [77203]
§ Mrs. LiddellThere are currently two officials working full-time on the Friends of Scotland project. A further five officials give assistance on the project when required. Both full-time officials are based in Glasgow.
Two members of staff have been seconded from the private sector, both from the Bank of Scotland (HBOS plc).
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if she will list the events run(a) in Scotland, (b) in London, (c) in other locations within the UK and (d) outside the UK by Friends of Scotland since its inception in 2001; [77204]
(2) if she will list the events her Department has run jointly with the Scottish Executive to promote Friends of Scotland and the GlobalScot initiatives. [77205]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe events run by the Scotland Office in furtherance of the Friends of Scotland initiative have been as follows:
Events (a) In Scotland 22 July 2002 A business lunch in Edinburgh 13 August 2002 A reception in Edinburgh for cultural attaches from diplomatic missions in London (b) In London 27 November 2001 The Friends of Scotland launch event in the Banqueting House, Whitehall 11 June 2002 A business dinner in Dover House, Whitehall 15 June 2002 A reception in Dover House, Whitehall 23 July 2002 A reception for the launch of the Friends of Scotland website in Dover House, Whitehall (c) Elsewhere in the UK None (d) Outside the UK 23 January 2002 A business lunch in Guangzhou,China 14 October 2002 A reception in Sydney, Australia The events run jointly by the Scotland Office and the Scottish Executive for the Friends of Scotland and GlobalScot initiatives were the dinner in London on 11 June and the reception in Sydney on 14 October.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) on which date the Friends of Scotland website was established; [77208]
771W(2) if she will list the (a) start-up and (b) maintenance costs of the Friends of Scotland website; [77229]
(3) what marketing her Department carried out on behalf of Friends of Scotland to promote the launch of the Friends of Scotland website; [77210]
(4) how many visits the Friends of Scotland website has received in each month since it was first established; [77209]
(5) how many (a) organisations and (b) individuals have registered their interest in Friends of Scotland through the initiative's website since its inception; and if she will list them by country of residence; [77214]
(6) if she will list the reasons given by organisations and individuals for registering their interest in the Friends of Scotland initiative, as submitted to the initiative's website; [77211]
(7) how many (a) organisations and (b) individuals have registered to receive e-mail updates from the Friends of Scotland website; and if she will list them by country of residence; [77213]
(8) how many e-postcards have been sent from the Friends of Scotland website in each month since it was first published. [77212]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe current Friends of Scotland website was established on 23 July 2002. The start-up cost was £62,623; the cost of subsequent maintenance and development to date has amounted to £4,711. The launch of the website was announced at a reception held in the Scotland Office on 23 July.
The website has received the following number of visits in each month since it was established:
Number of visits July 826 August 2,046 September 3,261 October (up to 24) 3,451 The website has attracted 32 registrations of interest since its inception. Individuals registering their own interest and those registering on behalf of an organisation cannot be differentiated. The breakdown of the total by country of residence is as follows:
Number UK 20 Australia 3 New Zealand 2 Canada 1 Japan 1 USA 2 Belgium 1 Germany 1 unknown 1 Those registering their names have cited interests in culture, education and business.
Seventy individuals have registered to receive e-mail updates from the website. A breakdown of this figure by country of residence is not available.
772WThe number of e-postcards sent from the website during the period up to 24 October 2002 was 80. A month by month breakdown of this figure is not available.
Letters have been sent to key influencers around the world inviting them to access the website. Arising from this exercise, 136 recruits have been secured for Friends of Scotland.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what expenditure has been budgeted for by her Department to support the Friends of Scotland initiative during the financial year 2002–03. [77218]
§ Mrs. LiddellA budget of £ 260,000 has been allocated for the current financial year. This figure does not include staffing costs.
§ Angus RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if she will list the dates and locations of meetings of the Advisory Board to Friends of Scotland since its inception in 2001; [77219]
(2) if she will list the costs of meetings of the Advisory Board to Friends of Scotland since its inception in 2001 in terms of (a) travel expenses, (b) refreshment costs and (c) other expenses. [77220]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe Friends of Scotland Advisory Group's first meeting was on 18 December 2001 in London. Its second meeting was on 1 March 2002 in Glasgow. Its third and most recent meeting was held on 20 May 2002 in Edinburgh.
The costs of the Advisory Group's meetings have been (a) £1,440 and (b) £278. There have been no other separately identifiable costs (c).